In my previous entry, I mentioned how last term pushed the limits with my teaching load and what happened as a result. As part of a recap for this term, I'm going to share some of the changes that I have made as well as some results so far.
I'd normally be teaching during the time of starting to write this entry (a couple of weeks ago), but I did have to deal with a small bout of what I suspect was gastro- over the previous weekend. I think it goes for any teacher that you can only dodge bullets of sickness, like the Matrix, for so long until one finally hits you. I am quite satisfied with how quick I have recovered.
The Analysis
I'm normally keen to embrace change with my music work if it seems possible and justifiable. The first term school holidays were the best opportunity to finally sit down and examine my teaching situation. I had reached what was essentially five days of teaching, but travel had increased. Further responsibilities were being allocated with schools and groups. After reading Finnish Lessons 2.0, by Pasi Sahlberg, I wanted to improve my structure of teaching and development of student programs. Most importantly, I didn't want to go through another bout of burning out (succumbing to everyday sickness, due to working with several schools and students, would be excusable).
Health and Fitness
It's easy to forsake our own health, especially in a profession where the needs of others is greatly considered. However, we won't be capable of providing our service if we don't prioritise our own health.
The penny dropped just over a couple of months ago when I decided to see how much I weighed. The last time I weighed myself was about 10 years ago, and I came in at about 70 kg. Fast forward to 2018, and the scales had me at about 86 kg clothed. It was no surprise as to why I felt so sluggish and less energetic.
With the local indoor cricket centre changing to a futsal centre and not many other sports being of particular interest, the fitness aspect was on a real decline. Combine this with what had become a tradition to kick back at the end of a working week with drinks and sitting around at home over the weekend, and one could understand my surprise of seeing my weight on the scales. Just as I expect students to make change in their learning, the onus was now on me to make effective change.
The penny dropped just over a couple of months ago when I decided to see how much I weighed. The last time I weighed myself was about 10 years ago, and I came in at about 70 kg. Fast forward to 2018, and the scales had me at about 86 kg clothed. It was no surprise as to why I felt so sluggish and less energetic.
With the local indoor cricket centre changing to a futsal centre and not many other sports being of particular interest, the fitness aspect was on a real decline. Combine this with what had become a tradition to kick back at the end of a working week with drinks and sitting around at home over the weekend, and one could understand my surprise of seeing my weight on the scales. Just as I expect students to make change in their learning, the onus was now on me to make effective change.
During the holidays, Emelia and I decided to get the Nintendo Wii out for the boys to try. We hadn't used it for about 7-8 years, so there was a bit to remember in getting it all set up. After allowing the boys to try out the sports and party games over the holidays, I found all the Wii Fit accessories and decided to give the program a try again.
It was questionable in the past if the Wii Fit could be beneficial, but to me it was a case of seeing how much effort I could put into it to get positive results. Muscle exercises, yoga exercises (the stretching, my goodness that has been awesome!), and assorted aerobics activities would be compiled to form a program that depended on me to work hard. The first week was discovering what would work and be beneficial, then after that I could compile the type of program I wanted to complete. Currently I am focusing a lot more on the aerobic, with the Wii Fit, while completing some HIIT routines from the Fitness Blender team on YouTube.
But it isn't exercising alone that has been responsible. Reviewing what I'm eating, how much I am consuming, and even habits in attitude towards what I am consuming has played a large part in my change. Previously, I would have been having a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine at the end of the working week and it would just be routine. Now I'm lucky to have a glass of wine or a beer per month. The motivation isn't there to drink, and I'm feeling and seeing the benefits for it. When it comes to eating, I don't feel the need to stuff myself with food and can feel satisfied. And with some research into different foods and ingredients I'm feeling more confident to get into foods that can leave me feeling satisfied and having more energy.
As a result, I have lost ~9 kg in just over two months. Movement feels fantastic, and I feel like I have so much energy. This term, compared to last term, has felt like a breeze with the same workload (if not, slightly heavier workload). There isn't an exercise regime, health program or anything similar that I have taken on; it's all boiled down to motivation to bring out my best for me, my family, and my business for other families.
The Music Programs
There have been times where I feel teaching gets rather stagnant, especially if we are to adhere closely to a syllabus of some form. This has become an issue, somewhat, from a practical and theoretical position in music. And it isn't just feeling from my position, but also observing students through their reactions, attitudes, and playing.
Over the last few years it has been a case of trial and error to establish what can be understood and make the teaching interactive and enjoyable. Even today, I am still sitting down planning and working out methods and strategies. From a pedagogical and development standpoint, this has proven to be interesting.
There were several aspects of my teaching I could reflect upon and feel are moving in the right direction after completing Finnish Lessons, but was there room to improve my work further? Even though my area of teaching is peripatetic (private-based), you can still find similarities in how you construct your teaching based upon a syllabus similar to schooling.
I believe if you have a sufficient understanding of educational development you should be able to break free of the normal standards and take chances with students to push them further. For woodwind musicians, there is an exceptional opportunity to do this due to the mechanical technique employed in order to play.
In order for me to make this developmental structure possible I would have to deconstruct part of previous teaching structure, and part of that is from the syllabus of the AMEB. To be clear, this is not completely walking away from the AMEB but stepping away from their earlier grade structures in order to put my plans in place. The clarinet and saxophone syllabus hasn't changed for the last 10-12 years, and the examination structure hasn't changed for I don't know how long now. With prices incrementally getting higher to the point where lower grade examinations are nearly costing twice as much as they did ten years ago, it gets to a point where you have to figure out what is not only feasible for families but best for the development of students that we work with. The first four grades do not lead as a prerequisite into any outstanding ensembles or organisations; 5th Grade being the minimum for State Wind ensembles, and 6th Grade for tertiary study should students choose to pursue this.
I have decided not to focus on preparing students for examinations from 1st to 4th Grade, unless requested, but focus on technical, harmonic, and performance development through my own devices and methods. Without the first four grades I can concentrate more on, what I have now established as, stages of development. From a technical standpoint, scales are taught in a completely different manner that can allow students to take greater skills into individual and ensemble performance. Arpeggios are taught no longer in isolation, but collectively in a harmonic sense. Effectively, the aim is to establish harmonic concepts and chord structures early on to carry into higher level performance and composition. In the area of performance, the aim is to set more constant projects and collaborative performance for all students involved. This will probably be another blog entry entirely on its own, and perhaps something that can inspire other teachers to consider how they could reconsider creating their pathways options of instrumental teaching.
These are some of the exciting changes that not only I am experiencing, but also for many students that I am working with as part of their instrumental studies. Engagement of instrumental studies has grown, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much more these amazing students can increase their cognition and ability to play.
Not exactly what my Wii Fit board was saying at first...
It was questionable in the past if the Wii Fit could be beneficial, but to me it was a case of seeing how much effort I could put into it to get positive results. Muscle exercises, yoga exercises (the stretching, my goodness that has been awesome!), and assorted aerobics activities would be compiled to form a program that depended on me to work hard. The first week was discovering what would work and be beneficial, then after that I could compile the type of program I wanted to complete. Currently I am focusing a lot more on the aerobic, with the Wii Fit, while completing some HIIT routines from the Fitness Blender team on YouTube.
But it isn't exercising alone that has been responsible. Reviewing what I'm eating, how much I am consuming, and even habits in attitude towards what I am consuming has played a large part in my change. Previously, I would have been having a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine at the end of the working week and it would just be routine. Now I'm lucky to have a glass of wine or a beer per month. The motivation isn't there to drink, and I'm feeling and seeing the benefits for it. When it comes to eating, I don't feel the need to stuff myself with food and can feel satisfied. And with some research into different foods and ingredients I'm feeling more confident to get into foods that can leave me feeling satisfied and having more energy.
As a result, I have lost ~9 kg in just over two months. Movement feels fantastic, and I feel like I have so much energy. This term, compared to last term, has felt like a breeze with the same workload (if not, slightly heavier workload). There isn't an exercise regime, health program or anything similar that I have taken on; it's all boiled down to motivation to bring out my best for me, my family, and my business for other families.
The Music Programs
There have been times where I feel teaching gets rather stagnant, especially if we are to adhere closely to a syllabus of some form. This has become an issue, somewhat, from a practical and theoretical position in music. And it isn't just feeling from my position, but also observing students through their reactions, attitudes, and playing.
Over the last few years it has been a case of trial and error to establish what can be understood and make the teaching interactive and enjoyable. Even today, I am still sitting down planning and working out methods and strategies. From a pedagogical and development standpoint, this has proven to be interesting.
There were several aspects of my teaching I could reflect upon and feel are moving in the right direction after completing Finnish Lessons, but was there room to improve my work further? Even though my area of teaching is peripatetic (private-based), you can still find similarities in how you construct your teaching based upon a syllabus similar to schooling.
I believe if you have a sufficient understanding of educational development you should be able to break free of the normal standards and take chances with students to push them further. For woodwind musicians, there is an exceptional opportunity to do this due to the mechanical technique employed in order to play.
In order for me to make this developmental structure possible I would have to deconstruct part of previous teaching structure, and part of that is from the syllabus of the AMEB. To be clear, this is not completely walking away from the AMEB but stepping away from their earlier grade structures in order to put my plans in place. The clarinet and saxophone syllabus hasn't changed for the last 10-12 years, and the examination structure hasn't changed for I don't know how long now. With prices incrementally getting higher to the point where lower grade examinations are nearly costing twice as much as they did ten years ago, it gets to a point where you have to figure out what is not only feasible for families but best for the development of students that we work with. The first four grades do not lead as a prerequisite into any outstanding ensembles or organisations; 5th Grade being the minimum for State Wind ensembles, and 6th Grade for tertiary study should students choose to pursue this.
I have decided not to focus on preparing students for examinations from 1st to 4th Grade, unless requested, but focus on technical, harmonic, and performance development through my own devices and methods. Without the first four grades I can concentrate more on, what I have now established as, stages of development. From a technical standpoint, scales are taught in a completely different manner that can allow students to take greater skills into individual and ensemble performance. Arpeggios are taught no longer in isolation, but collectively in a harmonic sense. Effectively, the aim is to establish harmonic concepts and chord structures early on to carry into higher level performance and composition. In the area of performance, the aim is to set more constant projects and collaborative performance for all students involved. This will probably be another blog entry entirely on its own, and perhaps something that can inspire other teachers to consider how they could reconsider creating their pathways options of instrumental teaching.
These are some of the exciting changes that not only I am experiencing, but also for many students that I am working with as part of their instrumental studies. Engagement of instrumental studies has grown, and I'm looking forward to seeing how much more these amazing students can increase their cognition and ability to play.
